Use Cases
Creating Next-level Self-Service Portals with Microsoft Power Pages
Empower customers, vendors, citizens, and more with intelligent, interactive self-service portals
Revolutionize your interactions: Affordable, customizable self-service portals with Microsoft Power Pages and HSO
Self-service portals are transforming the way organizations from government agencies to healthcare providers to technology companies interact not only with customers (or patients or citizens), but also with vendors and other partners. Built correctly, portals can eliminate manual processes and interactions that have been handled on paper or through emails and phone calls.
The challenge has been the high cost of custom development required to build effective portals—until now. With robust tools like Microsoft Power Pages and the expertise of HSO, creating transformative portals is now within reach, fundamentally changing how you interact with external stakeholders.
Essential capabilities of an effective self-service portal
To be successful, self-service portals need specific capabilities that together enhance user experience and organizational efficiency:
- Usability: The design and interface should be intuitive, making pages easy to navigate and use.
- Personalization: Users should manage profiles, preferences, and more.
- Content Accessibility: Providing the right content, from forms to instructional guides, is crucial.
- Intelligent Bots: Bots offer a vehicle for inquiries, providing relevant information and recommendations.
- Integrations and Visibility: Effective portals integrate with key systems like finance and CRM for comprehensive service and case management.
- Functional Tools: Portals should enable specific tasks like form submission, document upload, and status checking.
- Security Controls: Portals must secure data from multiple sources and limit access appropriately.
- Case Management: Integration with CRM or case management solutions ensures complete documentation of user interactions.
Self-service Portal 2.0: A centralized hub
As users become more sophisticated and their expectations increase, self-service portals must evolve. Portals of the past were simply a place with an inventory of questions with pre-loaded responses, basic documentation, and options to contact the organization for more help. With today's technology and partners with expertise, organizations can have self-service portals that provide a centralized hub for one or multiple audiences.
Users can get answers and education but can also independently manage multi-level processes, like applying for a business license or a bank loan, where multiple forms and supporting documentation are required. They can download or fill in forms, upload documents, and respond to requests and questions to keep the process moving forward. All this is thanks to Power Pages' ability to connect with data sources within and outside the organization.
HSO creates an award-winning solution for automating tax processes
We are thrilled to announce that our client has won an Excellence in Tax Administration Award from the Federation of Tax Administrators (FTA) for their innovative Barcode Tax App. This project, led by our Application Platform team, showcases the power of automation and efficiency.
The original solution automated the annual Tax Form Testing process, reducing the time from days to minutes by automatically scanning and processing barcodes. This evolved into a comprehensive Microsoft Power Pages portal, providing a one-stop shop for vendors to manage all of our client's needs, from registration to tax processing and support.
Why Power Pages for portal development?
Microsoft Power Pages is a secure, low-code platform for rapidly creating, hosting, and administering external-facing business websites. Power Pages provides rich, customizable templates, a fluid visual experience through the design studio, and an integrated learning hub to quickly build sites for your unique business needs.
With Power Pages, we can build your portal using shared business data stored in Microsoft Dataverse, making it the ideal tool for creating sophisticated portals that rely on data from multiple sources, both internal and external.
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Application Submission and Processing
Create a straightforward application form that users can fill out to submit their information for processing. Example Use Cases: - Job application submissions - Scholarship applications - Grant proposals
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Vendor Onboarding/Approval
Streamline the process of onboarding new vendors, including collecting necessary details and managing the approval workflow. Example use cases: - Supplier registration - Contractor onboarding - Partner program applications
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Customer Self Service
Allow customers to manage their support tickets or cases directly through the portal, improving customer satisfaction and efficiency. Example use cases: - IT helpdesk support - Product/service issue reporting - Customer service inquiries
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Customer Feedback/Surveys
Enable organizations to collect feedback from customers through surveys, which can be used to improve products, services, and customer satisfaction. Example use cases: - Post-purchase feedback - Service quality assessment - Event or product launch feedback
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No Custom Code/Web Design
Use of all out-of-the-box (OOTB) components ensures that the solutions are easy to maintain, require no custom coding, and can be implemented quickly. Example use cases: - Simple web forms - Basic portals for data submission and tracking - Standardized workflows and processes
AI-driven bots with Power Virtual Agents and Microsoft Copilot Studio
Bots are a key component of comprehensive self-service portals. Users need a resource to answer specific questions as they arise. With Microsoft Copilot Studio and Power Virtual Agents, we build intelligent bots that not only answer user questions but go deeper, searching appropriate data sources for additional helpful information. With these powerful tools, we can ensure your bots are as sophisticated as you require.
Let's chat!
Are you ready to take advantage of today's technology for self-service portals that will transform the way you interact and drive efficiencies? With Microsoft Power Pages and portal expertise, HSO can help you realize your portal vision quickly and cost-effectively. Fill in the form below to connect with a member of our Application Platform team.
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